ATP Fantasy Tools

The French Open, officially known as Roland Garros, is the second Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season and the only major played on outdoor clay courts. Held annually at the Stade Roland Garros in the Bois de Boulogne in western Paris, it is widely considered the ultimate test of endurance, patience, footwork, and tactical brilliance in professional tennis. The 2026 edition opens immediately after the conclusion of the European clay swing in Hamburg and Geneva, and marks the 125th edition of the tournament.

Tournament Schedule

Qualifying: Monday, 18 May to Friday, 22 May. Matches begin from 10 a.m. CEST on Court Suzanne-Lenglen and outside courts Monday to Wednesday, and from 11 a.m. Thursday to Friday.
Main Draw: Sunday, 24 May to Sunday, 7 June. Matches begin on Court Philippe-Chatrier at 12 p.m. CEST from 25 May to 30 May, and at various times for the rest of the tournament. Play begins at 11 a.m. on all other courts. The night session on Court Philippe-Chatrier (one singles match) runs from 24 May to 3 June, not before 8:15 p.m.
Doubles Final: Saturday, 6 June at 11 a.m.
Singles Final: Sunday, 7 June, not before 3 p.m.

Prize Money and Ranking Points

Total Prize Money: € 61,723,000 (record total, +9.53% vs 2025)

Round	Prize Money	Ranking Points
Winner	€ 2,800,000	2,000
Finalist	€ 1,400,000	1,300
Semi-finalist	€ 750,000	780
Quarter-finalist	€ 470,000	430
Round of 16	€ 285,000	240
Round of 32	€ 187,000	130
Round of 64	€ 130,000	70
Round of 128	€ 87,000	10

The 2026 increases were focused on the early rounds and qualifying, with first-round losers earning 11.5% more than last year. Doubles champions take home € 600,000 per pair, while the mixed doubles champions earn € 122,000.

History

Roland Garros is one of tennis's oldest and most storied tournaments, first held in 1891 as the French Championships, when entry was restricted to members of French clubs. The event opened to international players in 1925, and from 1928 has been played at the purpose-built Stade Roland Garros, named after the French aviator and World War I hero Roland Garros. Rafael Nadal stands alone as the most successful player in tournament history, with a record 14 singles titles between 2005 and 2022; Björn Borg follows on six. Novak Djokovic, who won here in 2016, 2021 and 2023, remains the oldest French Open champion of the Open Era, claiming the 2023 title at 36 years and 20 days. The 2026 edition marks the 125th staging of the tournament and the 95th since the Open Era began in 1968.

Tournament Data

Roland Garros is played at a modest altitude of approximately 35 metres above sea level on the famously slow red clay of Stade Roland Garros, made of a thin (under 2 mm) topcoat of crushed brick over layers of crushed limestone. The slow, gritty surface, combined with the typically cool and damp late-spring conditions in Paris, makes Roland Garros the slowest stop on the entire ATP calendar.

These are the stats from recent years (consistent trends over the last five years):

Approximately 6.5 to 7% Aces per service game (similar to Rome and Monte Carlo, well below Madrid's ~8.5% and the fastest hard-court events)
Surface Speed Rating: 0.66–0.71 (Tennis Abstract), one of the slowest on tour, broadly in line with Rome (0.67) and slower than Madrid (0.82) and Geneva (0.81)
Highest coefficient of friction of any surface used at a Grand Slam, producing high and consistent bounce that rewards heavy topspin and elite court coverage
Among the longest average rally lengths and effective playing time on the calendar, and the highest physical demands of any major
Both main show courts now have retractable roofs: Court Philippe-Chatrier (since 2020) and Court Suzanne-Lenglen (since 2024), allowing headline matches to continue through Paris's unpredictable spring weather

Tournament Past Winners

Year	Winner	Runner Up	Semi-finalist 1	Semi-finalist 2
2025	Carlos Alcaraz	Jannik Sinner	Novak Djokovic	Lorenzo Musetti
2024	Carlos Alcaraz	Alexander Zverev	Jannik Sinner	Casper Ruud
2023	Novak Djokovic	Casper Ruud	Carlos Alcaraz	Alexander Zverev
2022	Rafael Nadal	Casper Ruud	Marin Cilic	Alexander Zverev
2021	Novak Djokovic	Stefanos Tsitsipas	Rafael Nadal	Alexander Zverev

Weather

This fortnight in Paris, conditions look classically variable for late spring and early summer in the Île-de-France. Daytime temperatures will range between 18 and 26°C (64 to 79°F), with cooler mornings and evenings around 10 to 14°C (50 to 57°F). Humidity will sit between 55 and 75%, with light to moderate winds around 10 to 20 km/h (6 to 12 mph). The opening week is expected to be cool and unsettled, with scattered showers from Sunday through Wednesday before drier and progressively warmer conditions arrive from Thursday onwards, with sunshine and highs touching 24 to 26°C by the second weekend. Rain delays during the opening days are a realistic possibility, but with retractable roofs now in place on both Court Philippe-Chatrier and Court Suzanne-Lenglen, the headline matches can continue uninterrupted.

Key 2026 News and Storylines

Major Withdrawals (Two-Time Champion and Last Year's Semi-finalist Out)

Carlos Alcaraz (World No. 2, Spain, Two-time Defending Champion) - OUT with the right wrist injury that ruled him out of Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, and Hamburg. Rafael Nadal confirmed in a recent RNE interview that Alcaraz has the same wrist injury he himself suffered twice in his career, in 2014 and 2016, the latter forcing Nadal to withdraw mid-tournament from Roland Garros 2016. The good news, per Nadal: it is not chronic and full recovery is possible with proper treatment. The bad news: Alcaraz has now also confirmed he will skip the grass swing and Wimbledon. The Spaniard, who has won 14 consecutive Roland Garros matches dating back to 2024, will not defend his title, and his absence guarantees a new men's champion in Paris.
Lorenzo Musetti (Italy, 2025 Semi-finalist) - OUT. Last year's surprise semi-finalist withdrew before the draw, joining the growing list of clay-court contenders who will not be in Paris. A significant absence given his deep run in 2025 and his strong recent results on dirt.
Jack Draper (World No. 28) - OUT, continuing his clay-court absence with the right knee tendon injury that ended his Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, and Hamburg campaigns. He continues to drop ranking points and is now down to around No. 50 in the live rankings.
Holger Rune (World No. 39) - OUT, still recovering from the Achilles tendon injury he picked up last October. He pulled out of Hamburg as well and will not feature in Paris.
Other notable ATP absences: Hubert Hurkacz, Sebastian Baez, Matteo Berrettini (knee), and several players still managing the workload from the back-to-back European clay events.

Key Players In (or Status to Watch)

Jannik Sinner (World No. 1, Italy, Top Seed) - IN and the overwhelming favourite. The 24-year-old arrives in Paris on a 29-match winning streak, having swept all three Masters 1000 clay events in Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome; his historic Rome title was the first by an Italian man since Adriano Panatta in 1976. Sinner has now completed the Career Golden Masters, has won five of the seven events he has entered in 2026, and needs only Roland Garros to complete the Career Grand Slam, which would make him the seventh man in the Open Era to do so. He came within one point of the 2025 title before Alcaraz saved three championship points in the final. He opens against French wildcard Clément Tabur.
Alexander Zverev (World No. 3, Germany, No. 2 seed) - IN and leading the bottom half. The 2024 finalist (lost to Alcaraz in five sets) is still chasing a first Grand Slam title and arrives off finals in Madrid and Rome. Zverev has reached at least the semi-finals at Roland Garros every year since 2021, but his level on big points and his mental composure under pressure remain the key questions. He opens against French wildcard Benjamin Bonzi.
Novak Djokovic (World No. 4, Serbia, No. 3 seed) - IN. The three-time champion (2016, 2021, 2023) and oldest Roland Garros winner of the Open Era turns 39 during the tournament and is chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title. After a shoulder injury limited him to only three tournaments in 2026 and just one clay match coming into Paris, his match sharpness is the biggest question. His draw is the toughest of the top seeds: a tricky opener against big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, with João Fonseca potentially looming in round three and Casper Ruud in the fourth round.
Felix Auger-Aliassime (World No. 5, Canada, No. 4 seed) - IN and leading the second quarter of Sinner's half. The Canadian is in solid 2026 form, with Medvedev as his projected quarter-final opponent and Sinner waiting in the semi-finals. His big serve and aggressive baseline game are less natural fits for Paris than for hard courts, but he has the firepower to trouble anyone over five sets.
Ben Shelton (World No. 6, USA, No. 5 seed) - IN and arguably one of the most in-form players in the field, fresh off his Munich ATP 500 title earlier in the clay swing. The American sensation faces Spain's Daniel Mérida in the first round and is the projected quarter-final opponent for Sinner. Paris will test how his big-serving game adapts to the slowest surface of the year.
Daniil Medvedev (World No. 7, No. 6 seed) and Taylor Fritz (No. 7 seed) - Both IN. Two players whose games are stylistically a tough fit for the Parisian dirt, but who arrive with Grand Slam pedigree. Medvedev's best Roland Garros result remains a 2021 quarter-final and clay has historically been his weakest surface, but his return game can still drag opponents into uncomfortable territory. Fritz arrives in poor clay form, having crashed out of Geneva in his opening match as top seed, and Paris is unlikely to be the surface where he turns it around.
Alex de Minaur (No. 8 seed), Casper Ruud (No. 15 seed) and Arthur Fils (No. 17 seed, France) - All IN. Ruud is a two-time Roland Garros finalist (2022, 2023) and a perennial clay-court threat when healthy. Fils is the highest-ranked Frenchman and arrives as the home hope, opening against retiring legend Stan Wawrinka in one of the matches of the first round.
Stan Wawrinka (World No. 119, Switzerland, Wildcard) and Gaël Monfils (World No. 221, France, Wildcard) - Both IN for what will be their final Roland Garros appearances. Wawrinka, the 2015 champion and three-time Grand Slam winner, is making his 21st appearance and faces Arthur Fils in the first round. Monfils, a 2008 semi-finalist and beloved home favourite, faces compatriot Hugo Gaston. Both confirmed in December 2025 that 2026 would be their farewell year on tour, and the Parisian crowd will give them both the send-off they deserve.

Dark horses and dangerous floaters to watch: Casper Ruud (two-time finalist, always a clay-court threat when healthy), João Fonseca (huge forehand, in Djokovic's section), Alexander Bublik (unpredictable and in form), Jakub Menšík (rising and a tricky out for any seed), and Arthur Fils (highest-ranked Frenchman, home support, in Zverev's quarter).

With Alcaraz, Musetti, Draper, and Rune all sidelined, the door is wide open for Sinner. The Italian's path looks the cleanest of any top seed: a wildcard opener, a projected quarter-final against Shelton, then Auger-Aliassime and either Zverev or Djokovic in the final. Djokovic has the toughest projected route, while Zverev has arguably the softest path among the top four. Paris's slow, grinding clay should reward patient baseliners, heavy topspin hitters, and players with deep clay-court tradition, the same profile that delivered Sinner's Rome crown. Hamburg, by contrast, played quicker than expected (top seed Auger-Aliassime fell to a lucky loser, Tommy Paul and qualifier Ignacio Buse reached the final), and is not a useful read for what Paris will demand.

Tournament Draws

Here are the links to the draws that you can check anytime to follow the latest updates and see which players advance through each round.

Summary

Roland Garros offers the slowest and most physically demanding clay conditions of the entire tennis season. The combination of heavy, gritty red clay, cool and damp early-summer Paris weather, best-of-five-set matches, and the highest physical demands on the calendar makes Paris the ultimate test of clay-court craft. Free points on serve are scarce, rallies are long, and matches frequently stretch beyond four hours. This is the polar opposite of the high-altitude conditions of Madrid and the quicker dirt of Geneva and Hamburg, and it shares far more in common stylistically with Rome and Monte Carlo.

So, expect slow and demanding conditions favouring grinders, heavy topspin hitters, elite movers, and players with deep clay-court IQ and superior physical conditioning. Hard-court specialists who relied on big serving and first-strike tennis earlier in the season will find Paris a much tougher proposition, while clay specialists who can construct points, weather long rallies, and stay fresh through five sets will thrive. With Alcaraz and Musetti both absent, Sinner is the overwhelming title favourite and arrives on a 29-match winning streak chasing his career Grand Slam. But expect Zverev, Djokovic, Shelton, Auger-Aliassime, and Ruud to make him work for every point.

Ready for two weeks of the most prestigious clay-court tennis on the planet, with Sinner chasing history, Djokovic chasing his 25th major, and Wawrinka and Monfils chasing one last Parisian farewell? With the two-time defending champion out and a wide-open field thanks to a wave of high-profile absences, this could be one of the most narrative-rich Roland Garros editions in years. Let's see who handles the slow, heavy conditions best and cashes in the fantasy points!

Did You Know?

Rafael Nadal's 14 Roland Garros titles is the all-time record for any player in any major. The Spaniard went 14-0 in French Open finals between 2005 and 2022, with an overall match record of 112-4 (96.5% win rate). Five of those titles came consecutively from 2010 to 2014, and his 81-match clay winning streak ended in 2007 was at Hamburg, not Paris. No other player has more than seven Roland Garros titles in tournament history.
Sinner is one win away from joining an elite club. If the Italian lifts the Coupe des Mousquetaires, he becomes only the ninth man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam, and would tie Rafael Nadal as the youngest to do so (Nadal was 24, Sinner is 24). Combined with his Career Golden Masters secured in Rome a week ago, only Olympic gold would then separate him from the most complete major collection in the men's game.
The 2025 final was a five-set classic for the ages. Alcaraz saved three championship points to beat Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2) in 5 hours and 29 minutes, the longest Roland Garros final in history. It was the first ever Sinner vs. Alcaraz Grand Slam final and is widely considered one of the greatest matches of the modern era. Sinner has been waiting twelve months to get another shot at the title.